MdSue's: Live from CARNIVAL FREEDOM, March 23-31, 2013, Review, Pictures, and more!!!

[MDSue]

Days 7 & 8

 

I would love to report we had two action-packed days on our trip home, but truthfully, we were pretty lazy and spent most of our time relaxing or packing. On Friday, I finally got to spend a few hours relaxing on the Serenity deck and reading a book. The only available seat was right by a noisy piece of equipment, so it wasn't as relaxing as I hoped it would be, but I wanted a few last hours of sun and breezes before returning to my hometown where the temps were still in the 40's.

 

Unfortunately, I think the sun was too much and I got the chills and what felt like a fever after dinner that evening. It took until midday Saturday to feel better. I didn't want to miss our last dinner with our tablemates whom I had grown fond of over the past week of dining together. My chills and feverish-feeling was long gone by dinner so I was confident that most-likely a mild sun-poisoning, not contagious illness was all I had and we were able to enjoy our last night of excellent dining- My stomach wasn't quite up to one more warm-melting chocolate cake, but we had enjoyed enough ice-cream cones from the ship that I figured I could skip a night or two of dessert/

 

For the shoppers:

 

After over a week of spending money and shopping in various ports, I was spent out for the most part and didn't want to depart with any more dollars, but of course I had to see what last minute deals the shops were offering.

 

One item that my sister and I wanted to check-out were these Bella-Perina Bracelets that were on sale for 1/4 of their list price:

 

 

These bracelets are similar to the Pandora style bracelts where you can mix and match the glass beads and charms. The list price was $115.00 for this particular bracelet. Considering I spent almost 3x' that amount on a starter "troll" beads necklace, $115.00 seemed fairly reasonable. 75% off seemed like a down-right bargain. I figured the braceelts couldn't be worth much at such a bargain price, but I liked them enough to participate in the sale.

 

Of course, the stores wanted to create a mob-scene type hype by offering the bracelets at rock-bottom prices. (Make sure you wait until the end of the week to buy these bracelets if interested). The sale started at 11am sharp and the jewelry stores were crammed packed with overflow crowds. They had numerous tables full of bracelets that were covered with a dark, see-through fabric so that would-be buyers could get a sneak peak without actually taking them off the table. Plenty of people were staking out their claims, and the crowds were at an almost frenzy before 11am finally rolled around.

The icing on the cake was that if you bought 4 bracelets, you got one free. There were three similar price ranges from 19.95, $24.95, and $29.95. You could mix and match the price ranges, but had to buy at least 4 of the mid-price bracelets to get one of the mid- price bracelets free.

 

Once they removed the fabric covering, the mob scene crowds started quickly grabbing up stacks of boxes and then taking them off to decide which ones they really wanted. I was kind of bummed when a women grabbed one bracelet right out from under me as I was reaching for it- but really, I had enough "stuff" and wasn't going to get worked up over it. I did take the bait and buy 4 to get my fifth bracelet free. I figure for less than $125 dollars, I could buy bracelets that would match any outfit (and mix and match them later if I wanted to). Many had specific charms that buyers were looking for, like cruise ship, dolphin, starfish, and ice-cream cone.

 

When I went to the register to pay, I asked the salesperson if they were going to promptly re-stock the shelves after the sales and she said they would. So if you get all caught up in the sales hype and you don't find the piece you want, just come back later and the same bracelet will be there. I went ahead and chose my five bracelets and then came later to exchange the one I didn't like as much.

 

Here's some pics of my haul:

 

 

 

 

The square boxes were the $115, on sale for $24.95

 

The boxes with the chopped corners were $95, on sale for $19.95

 

They also had a slightly bigger bracelet for $29.95- the pricier models had more charms and beads than the lower price models.

 

Anyway, I'm happy with my haul- hate to get caught up in mob-scene shopping frenzies, but I think the bracelets were good buys and the quality seems decent. Time will tell how they hold up in the long run.

[MDSue]

A few more pics:

 

I'm not one for the most part to buy liquor on vacation even though the prices can be considerably cheaper than in the states. On one of my first cruises, I bought two large bottles of Kahlua in Cozumel that was in really cool bottles you can't buy in the states. One was a thank-you gift for my neighbor who was watching my pets and the other for me.

 

I forgot that you can't bring anything over 3 ounces on the airplane and now I was going to have to pray that neither bottle broke in my checked bags. Not only that, liquor is heavy and if your bags are pushing the 50lb limit on the way to the cruise, it's likely going to be over the limit for the trip home- that's exactly what happened to my sister on her way home this year. The airline was going to charge her $90 extra for being 5lbs overweight. There went any savings, by far! (Luckily, the airline offered to upgrade her to first class for $20 and her bags could fly free- I'm still in shock at that offer- but don't count on it! She actually saved money to fly first class and I was still stuck in economy and paid for my bag which luckily wasn't overweight. I tried to get the same upgrade with no luck!

 

The liquor my sister bought was a special coffee liquor and creme in a cool bottle that mixed the ingredients as you pour it. She had to buy two bottle to get the deal. She was told this stuff isn't sold in the states. The ship sales staff plyed her with free samples to encourage her purchase!

 

 

And for me, I needed souvenirs for my two (adult) children- one who was watching my dog. I decided that I had to buy Curacao liquor from Curacao. I couldn't decide what color bottle to buy (cause they were all pretty), so I bought 3 bottles- blue, orange, and clear. The sales lady said the clear was the original and the best flavor.

 

 

If you buy the liquor in the ship's stores, they will give you cardbaord boxes to help with packing. Since I bought onshore, I was on my own getting the bottles home. Luckily with lots of extra plsatic bags and wrapping, all of our liquor made it safely home, but the extra weight was not kind to my back!

 

I saw lots of people lugging their liquor purchases off the ship on departure day. One very unlucky lady dropped her box packed with 2 bottles of rum. She stood in the departure line in shock as all of her rum spilled and dripped out of the box all over the floor. The odor on the terminal was pretty overpowering and I felt bad for all the passengers behind her line who had to walk and roll their luggage through a large puddle of rum. About 30 minutes after she spilled it, a clean-up crew finally showed up to mop up the mess.

 

As for the onboard jewelry, other than the bracelets we bought, I wasn't overly impressed with the selection and prices. If you want to make jewelry purchases, I think Aruba and Curacao have the best selection. The biggest savings comes with the fact that you don't pay sales tax. Most salespeople can knock an extra 10% off their original quotes, but the stories of huge discounts (or bargaining for 75% off) is false. If a salesperson offers you 75% their original quote, then they are crooks to begin with and I wouldn't trust them. I stick with the more well-known stores and have been happy with all my purchases. However, I would not buy an expensive piece of jewelry far from home. You want to be able to deal with a human face and reputable local jeweler for luxury items in my opinion.

[MDSue]

As I was going through my pics, I found a few more shots I don't think I included earlier. Forgive me if any of these are repeats:

 

Our home away from home- the room steward actually made a decoration out of a scarf I left out one night:

 

 

Some ships only have one ice-cream stand, the Freedom had lots. Luckily for us, we had no problem locating one of these when the urge occured (pretty much daily)

 

 

When the main buffet is closed, we headed to the deli for a quick bite to eat:

 

[MDSue]

Inside the elevators had a few cool random decorations like this one:

 

 

Remember when I said the walls resembled copper-colored tigers?

 

 

The floors had neat tile work:

 

 

When you go to the muster drill, you are standing inside this area here. I remember feeling a bit claustrophobic standing 5 or 6 rows deep in this narrow hallway in front of the lifeboats:

 

[MDSue]

My sister's favorite towel animal:

 

 

We were hoping for some really beautiful sunsets to photograph on our last few nights at sea. For the most part, they were kind of so-so

 

 

 

 

The last sunsets are always bittersweet because we know that our vacation is coming to an end :(

[Momma1980]

Beautiful pictures!

 

Especially liked the pictures of the parrots. I'm a bit obsessed with larger birds after owning two. They are so affectionate. My daughter and I want another bird but don't have the time right now.

 

Enjoyed your review very much.

[bubbyden]

Sue, great review of our cruise. I say ours because I was on it too. Our cabin was on Lido deck, port side from the looks of your photos nearly directly above you. Thank you for sharing the memories and capturing shots that I certainly didn't see. Didn't make the meet and greet as we love our deck and sun time. Hope to see you again on the high seas! May your sails always be filled with warm breezes and your waters be calm.

[MDSue]

Some final thoughts:

 

This was my first Carnival cruise in a few years and I was a little apprehensive that I wouldn't enjoy my vacation as much because a spring-break cruise on Carnival is bound to be full of families with children. As much as I love kids (and raised two of my own), I've come to appreciate the calmer, quieter atmosphere of the Princess line. I work in a school health room for 10 month's out of the year and deal with children every day, so a child-free vacation is definitely enticing.

 

However, I really liked the itinerary the Freedom offered. It went to 3 islands I haven't yet visited, and Curacao which was tops on my lists of islands I wanted to visit.

 

Plus, in my opinion, Carnival has much better food than Princess- and warm-melting chocolate cake (that in itself is worth a cruise on Carnival).

 

I can't remember how many people in the weeks coming up to my cruise asked "You're not sailing Carnival are you?" Well, I was bound and determined to prove their fears wrong. I knew the bad press Carnival has received of late was way over-exaggerated and had no doubt they offered a great cruise experience (and they did).

 

We did have a few negatives though and a review wouldn't be complete if I didn't share them, some of which I mentioned earlier.

 

1. Shortly after we departed, we noticed a loud wind noise coming from the balcony door. No matter how hard we tried, we could not fully shut the door and the howling noise was loud. We immediately called for maintenance and they sent our room steward to investigate. He came in and slammed the door two or three times and it finally latched. He told us we just needed to slam the door to make it close. Well, I wasn't thrilled with the idea of waking my neighbors late at night by slamming the door, so it basically rendered our balcony useless the first few evenings.

 

When we tried to sit outside, we couldn't slam the door hard enough to close, so we pretty much gave up on sitting out there when the ship was moving.

 

We mentioned the problem three times to our steward and he hinted at calling maintenance, but pretty much said that it's windy outside and the noise was normal (I've sailed alot and the noise wasn't normal), After the third night of wind noise, I'd had enough and went to the pursers desk and demanded maintainance come to our room. Within a few minutes, a maintainance person showed up and with a few turns of a screwdriver the problem was fixed. I just wish they had taken my concern seriously on the first call

 

2. I guess we've been really lucky over the years, but we've always had rooms surrounded by other couples and adults. I thought maybe the ships actually had special sections for adults only versus families with children. I know I asked our Vacation Planner about our room selection in hopes of being next to other adults. Well, our luck ran out this trip. We had a family with a young infant on one side and some noisy rambunctious teenagers on the other side of us. I was frequently woken up by crying babies or thundering herds of teenagers (mostly around 1am for the teenagers and all hours for the babies).

 

I was happy to see the teenagers having so much fun on the ship and enjoyed seeing groups of them hanging out together in various parts of the ship- I thought it was really cool how the kids can make new friends and have a blast doing their own activities- the only time the teens were a problem was the late night herds running down the hallway, laughing and giggling- fun for them- not so much for me when I wanted to sleep.'

 

The crying babies was much harder to tune out. I really wish we could have had an adults-only room area.

 

3. I hated the cattle calls getting on and off the ship- sometimes the crowds were enormous. However, This is pretty much par for the course on all cruise ships and it was no worse on Carnival.

 

4. We sailed in quite rough seas for a few days and there was a constant, loud banging noise coming from somewhere below. I'm not sure what it was, but it was definitely noticable in the lower level rooms.

 

5. Despite our vacation planners promise that the theater noise would not be an issue, we could hear the shows loud and clear. It wasn't a huge problem for me, but for anyone wanting to go to bed before 11pm, they should be aware of the noise.

 

Lastly, our debarkation was a nightmare, but I think Carnival handled the situation the best that they could. There was only 3 Customs agents on duty for all of us passengers. Many people, including us, were quite worried about making our flights. Origianlly the captain asked that everyone be off the ship by 09:30 am. From what I've read, the last people off departed at 2pm and the next cruise departed about 2 hours late.

I guess we have our government leaders to thank for this- but make sure you have plenty of time to get to the airport. I'm not sure if future sailing are going to experience the same nightmare we did.

 

Now the good

 

1. Carnival had to cancel Grand Turk because of water-safety concerns. I really appreciate that they found us an alternate port. Some people like sea days, but I'm a port person, so I really was glad they made this extra effort and even refunded the port charges for Grand Turk.

 

2. Or dining staff was superb. We had at least three people bring food, drinks, rolls, desserts, etc. Our service was always prompt. The staff knew our preferences and always made sure we had what we needed. The food was served warm, fresh, and tasted excellent.

 

3. Other than the balcony door issue, our room service was excellent and our rooms were cozy and clean.

 

4. Although, I truly miss the Caribbean bands they used to have on the deck (and hated the DJ noise), Carnival did have nice entertainment on other parts of the ship. The two-piece duo who frequently performed in the atrium were very good and enjoyable.

 

 

Overall, we had an excellent time and I loved, loved, loved the itinerary. Carnival has gotten lots of bad press lately that I believe is largely undeserved. I think they offer an excellent vacation. You may find me back on Princess or another mostly adult oriented cruise ship simply to avoid the crying babies and noisy teens. However, if I have grandkids one day, you can be sure I'll be back on Carnival and if they offer an itinerary that I prefer, I chose them again as well.

 

 

I really appreciate everybody who took the time to read my review and look at my pictures. I've enjoyed sharing my journey with you.

[MDSue]

Beautiful pictures!

 

Especially liked the pictures of the parrots. I'm a bit obsessed with larger birds after owning two. They are so affectionate. My daughter and I want another bird but don't have the time right now.

 

Enjoyed your review very much.

 

Thanks! I loved the parrots also; they were so beautiful and fun. My sister has a lovebird (who is totally spoiled rotten and has free roam of their house) and 4 parakeets. I'm hoping I can convince my husband to go back to Aruba next year, just to see the birds

 

I'd really love to have a parrot also, especially like my favorite peach-headed parrot at the Radisson, but they do require a huge commitment of time, so I'll have to settle for visiting them instead:)

[MDSue]

Sue, great review of our cruise. I say ours because I was on it too. Our cabin was on Lido deck, port side from the looks of your photos nearly directly above you. Thank you for sharing the memories and capturing shots that I certainly didn't see. Didn't make the meet and greet as we love our deck and sun time. Hope to see you again on the high seas! May your sails always be filled with warm breezes and your waters be calm.

 

Thanks! It was a great cruise wasn't it? I'm already experiencing cruise-withdrawal symptoms! Hopefully, we'll meet again on a future roll-call. Even if you don't go to the meet and greet, the roll calls are a great place to get ideas and tips for the cruise. That's how I found about the Saona Island tour in DR.

 

Happy sails to you, too!

[MDSue]

The end:

 

Our ship was lingering off the coast of Florida early in morning. Somewhere around 4am, I heard them docking in port. We set our alarm for 6am to be ready for an early departure off the ship.

 

I went out to watch the sunrise and photograph some of the other ships in port:

 

The Allure of the Seas:

 

 

 

A Celebrity ship backing into dock next to the Nieuw Amsterdam

 

 

And the Nieuw Amsterdam with the sun rising in the background:

 

 

These were my last shots before exiting the ship

[MDSue]

Last year, I ended my Caribbean Princess review with a picutre of the captain on the bridge, so I figured it was fitting to end this review with the same picture from the Carnival Bridge. It is one reason I like being in the front of the ship; cause I like the view of the bridge in my pictures.

I never met the captain this trip, but here is a picture from the bridge:

 

 

Happy sailing:):):)

[mpcaruth]

Loved looking at your photos! We took this cruise in January and I swear we took some identical photos. What a great cruise. I agree with you on the Seavis Tour: AMAZING!

[MDSue]

Loved looking at your photos! We took this cruise in January and I swear we took some identical photos. What a great cruise. I agree with you on the Seavis Tour: AMAZING!

 

Thank-you! It is so hard trying to pick and choose which ones to post-probably took over 1000 altogether.

Seavis Tours was great- I can thank another CC'er for putting that trip together. It was such a great time!

[sunquest76]

Did you notice any children on the Seavis tour? I'm wondering if they had smaller life jackets for the speed boats or if I should pack ours...

 

Great review with AMAZING pictures. Thank you so much for taking the time!

[MDSue]

Did you notice any children on the Seavis tour? I'm wondering if they had smaller life jackets for the speed boats or if I should pack ours...

 

Great review with AMAZING pictures. Thank you so much for taking the time!

 

Hi, I'm glad you enjoyed my pics. I had such a great time taking them. There were definitely kids on the Seavis tour. I can't remember if they had smaller size life-jackets for them, but I'm guessing they did. I bet if you emailed them to ask, they would let you know. I know that the person in our roll call group that made our reservations was in touch with them regularly by email.

 

Enjoy, you'll have a great time. I remember one child not wanting to walk through the sea grass when we were on the sand bar with the starfish. It would probably be worthwhile to have water shoes for everyone. I know I was glad I had mine!

[cruiseclues]

Really enjoyed your photo review, thanks for the experience...some truly outstanding photo selection. :):):):)

[MDSue]

Really enjoyed your photo review, thanks for the experience...some truly outstanding photo selection. :):):):)

 

Thanks! I enjoyed sharing them:)

[Kfoot]

I luv the pictures of Curaçao. That's one Island I've always said I would luv to visit. I looked on this itinerary for next year and was a bit undecided, becuz my mother hate cruises that have 2 sea days in a row. I told her she's gonna need it after 4 days of hectic island excursions. I definitely wanna do this, but I think

I'll do it in the Breeze.

Thanks for a great review?

[MDSue]

I luv the pictures of Curaçao. That's one Island I've always said I would luv to visit. I looked on this itinerary for next year and was a bit undecided, becuz my mother hate cruises that have 2 sea days in a row. I told her she's gonna need it after 4 days of hectic island excursions. I definitely wanna do this, but I think

I'll do it in the Breeze.

Thanks for a great review?

 

Thanks. I feel the same way about a lot of sea days- I would much rather be on an island. I really wanted to go to Curacao, though, so we decided it would be worth the extra sea day. On this itinerary, we were able to visit three new islands that I haven't been to before. It was well worth the extra sea day- especially since it is an 8day cruise- at least we got a bonus cruise day!

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Great review! Love the pictures!

[pickles1942]

Great review and loved the pics...awesome. I did want to know more about the Sevis tour in LaRamona...when you get out of the boat to go to the beach area....the boats looked like they were on the shore. Do the guides help you out of the boat? or is there a short ladder? I have bad knees and am short so just wondered how getting on and off the boat went.

thanks

[mpcaruth]

Great review and loved the pics...awesome. I did want to know more about the Sevis tour in LaRamona...when you get out of the boat to go to the beach area....the boats looked like they were on the shore. Do the guides help you out of the boat? or is there a short ladder? I have bad knees and am short so just wondered how getting on and off the boat went.

thanks

 

I am not the OP, but we recently did the Seavis tour, too. You board the boats in very shallow water and actually have to step up on the back seat and over to get in and out of the boat. The guides do help you keep your balance. While at the starfish stop, they lower a small ladder mounted to the side of the boat to get and out of the water. I have two pictures in my review showing the rear of the boat with everyone getting on and off.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1781515&page=2

[MDSue]

I am not the OP, but we recently did the Seavis tour, too. You board the boats in very shallow water and actually have to step up on the back seat and over to get in and out of the boat. The guides do help you keep your balance. While at the starfish stop, they lower a small ladder mounted to the side of the boat to get and out of the water. I have two pictures in my review showing the rear of the boat with everyone getting on and off.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1781515&page=2

 

 

Thanks for answering for me! I'm not sure how to follow my own thread, so I must have missed this post.

 

I agree that the boat was easy to get in and out of, and the guides are great at helping if necessary. The only extra that I would recommend is water shoes because there are quite a few shells near the shore at the beach. I'm glad I had them!

[MDSue]

Great review and loved the pics...awesome. I did want to know more about the Sevis tour in LaRamona...when you get out of the boat to go to the beach area....the boats looked like they were on the shore. Do the guides help you out of the boat? or is there a short ladder? I have bad knees and am short so just wondered how getting on and off the boat went.

thanks

 

I'm sorry I missed your question- it's a great tour and the guides will help you if needed. My sister has a few knee problems but got in and out easily. The guide was right there to lend a hand if needed.